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Cattle 'hit with sledge hammers'

Cattle on a livestock export ship. The Department of Agriculture has released details of unauthorised movement and slaughter of Australian sheep and cattle in overseas markets.

Alan Schmidt

The Department of Agriculture has released details of investigations into Australian sheep and cattle, exported to overseas markets and sold outside of welfare-approved supply chains.

In some instances, including in markets like Vietnam, Kuwait and Jordan, the animals were slaughtered in breach of animal welfare standards.

An investigation into cattle exported to Vietnam, reported by a member of the public, found some were killed in an abattoir not approved under the Australian Government's ESCAS (Exporters Supply Chain Assurance System) system in breach of animal welfare recommendations.

The report said a video provided to the department showed: 'Some animals were slaughtered on the floor of the facility, some cattle were repeatedly struck in the head with a sledge hammer in an apparent attempt to make the animal unconscious and one animal's spinal cord was severed with a knife while the animal was conscious.'

The Department of Agriculture's deputy secretary Phillip Glyde says action has been taken against the exporter Wellard, which was responsible for the shipment.

"We were able to find that they were certainly slaughtered very poorly, certainly not consistent with OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) recommendations and standards and a number of the cattle were likely to have left approved supply chains, so we recorded a critical non-compliance against Wellards who were running that particular supply chain," Mr Glyde said.

Mr Glyde concedes there maybe some problems as live exports take off in the new market.

"There's one thing to have the rules and another thing is to have people who are trained and experienced in using those rules and operating under those rules, so I think that's a factor that the industry recognises and puts effort into training and the like, but sometimes it does take a bit of time to settle down."

But Mr Glyde says he's confident strict controls are in place and the industry has demonstrated it has the capacity to identify problems and fix them.

The government was provided with video footage from Animals Australia of the cattle in Mauritius, taken during the Eid Al Adha festival, a Muslim festival which is also known as the feast of sacrifice, in October 2013.

The report said: 'In the video, an animal has been restrained using ropes on the ground for slaughter on the ground and is held by several individuals at a location that is not the approved abattoir (appears to be a backyard or private residence).'

It says the animal appears to struggle as it is prepared for slaughter and after being cut by a slaughterman, people touch in and around the wound while the animal is still conscious.

The Department has also investigated instances of sheep exported to Jordan and Kuwait, in the Middle East, where they were offered for sale and slaughter at locations not approved under the government's ESCAS system.

The investigation into the breach in Jordan, concluded that some 2,718 sheep, which had been part of a shipment exported by Livestock Shipping Services (LSS), were found to have moved outside the company's approved supply chain.

LSS, which is the largest exporter of Australian livestock to Jordan and has previously been cited by animal rights groups as a repeat offender, had a finding of a 'critical non-compliance' recorded against it for the breach.

The most recent finding follows similar allegations levelled against LSS in June 2013, relating to the shipment of sheep to Jordan. On that occasion the Agriculture Department imposed conditions on LSS, including that it have a supply chain officer undertake regular checks of sheep in Jordan.

In Kuwait, the sheep were being sold at an unapproved market during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, which the department acknowledges is a high risk time for sheep outside the supply chain. It's the third report, involving the same three exporters, that the government has received relating to Australian sheep being sold outside approved supply chains in Kuwait.

The Department of Agriculture's Phillip Glyde says animals moving out of supply chains has been a consistent problem in Kuwait and the department is increasing compliance activity and supervision of supply chains in the region.

"It remains a work in progress. It's difficult to control the number of sheep that are there and all of these measures are slowly tightening and improving the standards that we want to follow."

"But sooner or later, if we get to the point where we can't tighten the supply chain, we've removed all of the poor elements, there's nothing left then we begin to question whether or not the exporters should have a licence, whether they're competent, whether they have integrity."

He says since September 2012, seven exporters have been required to demonstrate why their license shouldn't be suspended or cancelled.

The department has also released reports into cattle deaths during flights to China and Kazakhstan.